Method and means for supporting the backing cylinder of printing apparatus to facilitate replacing an endless member extending partly around it



3,413,919 DER OF N U. HOCUTT Dec. 3, 1968 METHOD AND MEANS FORSUPPORTING THE BACKING CYLIN PRINTING APPARATUS TO FACILITATE REPLACINGA ENDLESS MEMBER EXTENDING PARTLY AROUND IT 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct.23, 1965 INVENTOR. Urey 1900112? 3,413,919 LINDER OF U. HOCUTT PORT Dec.3, 1968 METHOD AND MEANS FOR SUP ING THE BACKING CY PRINTING APPARATUSTO FACILITATE REPLACING AN ENDLESS MEMBER EXTENDING PARTLY AROUND ITFiled Oct. 23, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Urey l/acaZZ Dec. 3, 1968ocu 3,413,919

METHOD AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE BACKING CYLINDER OF PRINTINGAPPARATUS TO FACILITATE REPLACING AN ENDLESS MEMBER EXTENDING PARTLYAROUND IT Filed Oct. 23, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Urey floral?United States Patent 3,413,919 METHOD AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THEBACKING CYLINDER OF PRINTING APPARA- TUS TO FACILITATE REPLACING ANENDLESS MEMBER EXTENDING PARTLY AROUND IT Urey Hocutt, Baltimore, Md.,assignor to The Johnson Fast Print Machine Corporation, Brooklandville,Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,486 9Claims. (Cl. 101216) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A heavy backing cylinderis suspended between two support members on a combination of an axialsleeve and a shaft which is reciprocal within the sleeve to project oneend of the shaft beyond one end of the sleeve or withdraw the shaft endinto the sleeve. One end of the sleeve is disposed within a bearing inone of the support members and one end of the shaft is normallyprojected into a bearing in the other of the support members. Forpassing an endless printers blanket over and around the suspendedcylinder, or removing it, the cylinder is temporarily supported byprojecting a pair of print rolls, or the mandrels on which they aremounted, or other means, against the cylinder, or against a narrow yokeinterposed between the print rolls or mandrels or other means and thecylinder, and the projected shaft end is withdrawn from said othersupport member into the sleeve thereby providing space between one endof the cylinder and one support member through which the blanket can bepassed.

This invention relates to method and apparatus for supporting thebacking cylinder of printing apparatus in which a length of material tobe printed is passed between a series of print rolls and a printersblanket which extends partly around the backing cylinder, to facilitateplacing, removing and replacing the endless member.

Placing, removing and replacing an endless printers blanket around asuspended, heavy backing cylinder, of the kind used in a cloth printingassembly, for example, has been a difficult and time-consumingoperation. In a cloth printing assembly a length of cloth to be printedis passed, together with an endless printers blanket, between a heavybacking cylinder and a series of positively-driven print rolls, whichpress the cloth and blanket against the surface of the backing cylinder,this pressure being sufiicient to cause rotation of the backingcylinder.

In this assembly, in addition to a heavy backing cylinder and itssupport means, there are a number of print roll subassemblies eachcomprising, a print roll, demountably supported on a mandrel, a colorbox, a color transfer brush, and a doctor blade, in addition to means ofrotating the print rolls. Both the backing cylinder and the print rollsubassemblies are heavy and bulky. In the prior art devices the printroll subassemblies are adjustable only a distance on the order of oneinch, toward and away from the backing cylinder, to adjust the pressurewhich the print rolls exert on a length of material being passed partlyaround the backing cylinder between the print rolls and the printersblanket, which is an endless member extending partly around the backingcylinder and traveling in an endless path over a number of guiderollers.

From time to time the endless blankets are damaged and have to bereplaced. This has been a very time-consuming operation, often requiringa day and a half, because all of the print roll subassemblies, whichvary in number according to the printing operation but may comprise asmany as twelve, have to all be disassembled and removed from theirsupport means, and the backing cylinder has to be jacked up so that abearing for one spindle ice of the cylinder can be lifted out of aV-shaped seat, provided at the top of spaced end support members, andslid off the spindle. A damaged blanket was then moved off the cylinderthrough the space previously occupied by the bearing between the spindleand one end support means, and another blanket was then slid in throughthe space previously occupied by the bearing, and pulled over and aroundthe cylinder, after which the jack was removed and all of the print rollsubassemblies had to be reassembled and replaced.

It has been suggested to obtain space between the cylinder and one endsupport means by relative movement between the cylinder and one endsupport means. But moving a backing cylinder relative to an end supportmeans is unsatisfactory because of the weight and bulk of the cylinderand because all of the print roll subassemblies still have to be removedunless means are provided for moving the subassemblies toward and awayfrom the backing cylinder a distance much greater than one inch. Whilemoving one end support means away from the cylinder is more practicalthan moving the cylinder itself, it is still necessary to remove andreplace all of the print roll subassemblies because the support meansfor the cylinder also comprises the support means for the several printroll subassemblies.

In United States Patents 2,821,913, Feb. 4, 1958; 2,893,- 310, July 7,1959; and 3,177,805, Apr. 13, 1965; and in co-pending United Statesapplication Ser. No. 239,546 filed Nov. 23, 1962, means are disclosedfor moving print roll subassemblies, individually or in unison, asubstantial distance, much more than one inch and on the order of onefoot or more, toward and away from the backing cylinder. By using themethod and structure disclosed herein, and preferably also moving theprint roll subassemblies toward and away from the backing cylinder, asrequired, with or without the print rolls on the support mandrels, inthe manner disclosed in said United States patents and pending patentapplication, the whole operation of replacing a damaged printers blanketis reduced to a matter of minutes, and the need for a jack or otherseparate means for lifting and supporting the backing cylinder, iseliminated.

An object of the invention is to simplify, and greatly reduce the timerequired for replacing a printers blanket which extends partly aroundthe heavy backing cylinder of a cloth printing assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, dependablemethod and apparatus whereby a temporary separation between a suspendedheavy cylinder and its support means may be achieved, providing spacethrough which an endless member may be passed in or out of the enclosureformed by the cylinder and its support means.

Another object of the invention is to accomplish temporary support ofthe backing cylinder of a printing assembly, in a positive way, with thesupport being provided or withdrawn in a minimum of time and with aminimum of effort.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the moving an endlessmember onto, or off of, the backing cylinder of a printing assembly witha minimum of disturbance of the parts of the assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved structure forsuspending a heavy body such as the backing cylinder of a cloth printingassembly.

The invention will best be understood by reading the followingdescription in connection with the drawings, in which,.

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of the invention showingan endless blanket pulled laterally partly ofi a backing cylinder andalso partly off guide rollers, in readiness to be removed from theclosure defined by the backing cylinder and its support means, but withthe end of the shaft still seated in the bearing provided by one endsupport member.

FIGURE 2 is an end view of a cloth printing assembly including a backingcylinder and eight print roll subassemblies, with the print rollsremoved from the two of the supporting mandrels which are advancedagainst a yoke, positioned against the under surface of the cylinder, totemporarily support the cylinder, and showing also lead rollers, for anendless blanket passing partly around the cylinder, and for a length ofcloth which is advanced with the blanket between the blanket and theseries of print rolls,

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken on the lines 33 of FIGURE 2,showing the shaft separated from the end support member bearing, and thebacking cylinder being supported by print roll mandrels (only one of apair of Supporting mandrels can be seen in this view) from which theprint rolls have been removed, and which have been advanced beyond theother mandrels and the print rolls thereon, and pressed against a yokeinterposed against the under surface of the cylinder and showing anendless blanket being move-d laterally through the space thus providedbetween the shaft and the end support member and its bearing,

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary end view, taken on the lines 44 of FIGURE 3,partly in section, showing the two mandrels, on either side of thevertical center line of the cylinder, pressed against the yokeinterposed against the under surface of the cylinder, and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the cylinder and its support means,indicating how the slide supports are disposed on the inner surfaces ofthe end support members.

In the described embodiment of the invention a heavy cylinder, 10, whichis the backing cylinder of a cloth printing machine, is mounted forrotation between spaced opposed end support members 12 and 14 which risefrom the base 16 and are interconnected by the tie rods 18.

The support members 12 and 14 are illustrated as uprights of sheet steelgenerally circular in form, and having around their inner faces a numberof slide supports 20 mounted on the laterally extending brackets 22. Theslide supports 20 are disposed radially with respect to the axis of thecylinder.

As shown in FIGURE 2 there are eight pairs of slide supports or nips 20mounted on the opposed inner surfaces of end supports 12 and 14. Eachslide support carries a slide 26 which is provided with a bearinghousing 28, and the respective ends of a mandrel 32 are received androtatably supported in the bearing housings comprising each opposed pairof bearing housings. On each slide support or nip 20 a power fluidcylinder is provided having a piston 24 attached to the slide 26, and,by known means, not shown herein, as for example by the means fullydescribed in Patents 2,893,310 and 3,177,805 referred to above, thepower cylinders may be actuated to move selected pairs of mandrelsupporting slides toward and away from the backing cylinder, and thusbring the mandrels themselves, or the print rolls ordinarily supportedon the mandrels if the operator chooses to leave the print rolls onthese mandrels, against the under surface of the cylinder or against anintermediate member or yoke 36 which may be interposed between themandrels and the cylinder to receive the thrust of the temporarilysupporting mandrels. The yoke 36 is narrow relative to the length of thecylinder and may be interposed after the blanket has been slid partlyoff the cylinder as shown in FIGURE 1, and it is thicker than theblanket so the mandrels pressing against the yoke will not also press onthe portion of the blanket still disposed around the cylinder.

One or more of the mandrels 32, but preferably two to prevent lateralmovement of the cylinder, may be moved up against the under surface ofthe cylinder, or against the buffer member or yoke 36 interposed betweenthe mandrel means and the cylinder, to serve as temporary supportingmeans while one end of the cylinder is separated from, and isunsupported by, one of its end support means, to provide a space betweenthe cylinder and the end support means through which an endless printersblanket B, may be moved, to position it extending partly around thecylinder, or to remove it from around the cylinder, as for example toreplace a damaged blanket with another blanket.

It is preferred to temporarily support the cylinder by the force exertedon it by the two mandrels 32, which, as shown in FIGURE 4, are the twomandrels supported by the pairs of slides which are disposed adjacentto, but on opposite sides of, a vertical plane passing longitudinallythrough the axis of the backing cylinder. It will be understood that anabutment member may be mounted on a mandrel and used instead of themandrel as the abutment means pressing directly against cylinder 10, oragainst the buffer yoke member 36 which is preferably curved to conformto the curvature of the under surface of cylinder 10. Thus for exampleone or more of the print rolls 34 which are mounted on the mandrelsduring a printing operation may be pressed directly or indirectlyagainst the cylinder 10, thus serving in place of the mandrels as thegross member contacting the abutment means.

As is shown in FIGURE 3 the backing cylinder is suspended between theend support members 12 and 14 by means of shaft 42 and the tubularmember or sleeve 38. The ends of the cylinder comprise hubs which reston the bearing 40a and 40b provided on the external surface of sleeve38. As shown sleeve 38 is stationary, the cylinder 10 is rotatablearound it, and shaft 42 is reciprocable axially within it. The end ofshaft 42 at the viewers right hand as seen in FIGURE 1, is extendedbeyond the end of sleeve 38 and is received in the bearing 44 providedby end support 14. The end of sleeve 38 at the viewers left hand isextended beyond the end of shaft 42 and is received in the bearing 39provided in the end support 12. The left hand end of shaft 42 ispositively engaged within sleeve 38 by the inner end of the screw 46,which extends through, and is threadedly engaged in, a bearing 48provided in the transverse member 50 detachably mounted at, or adjacentto, the end of sleeve 38. At its outer end screw 46 is provided with ahand wheel 47 by which the screw may be rotated, and shaft 42, caused bythe engagement of screw 46 in bearing 48, to move axially within sleeve38, in a direction determined by the direction in which screw 46 isrotated. To facilitate reciprocable movement of shaft 42 portions 42a ofit are made of reduced diameter to decrease friction between the shaftand the inner surface of sleeve 38.

For replacing an endless blanket B screw 46 is turned to move shaft 42away from end support member 14 and its bearing 44 until suificientspace is provided between the bearing and the end of the shaft to allowthe endless member to be moved laterally through the space. For removingan endless blanket B of the kind indicated in the drawings the end ofshaft 42 is drawn away from the closest part of its end support means,Which in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is the bearing 44,approximately two inches which provides a gap g through which theblanket B may be moved laterally. A replacement blanket may be movedlaterally through the gap in the same way.

It will be understood that before removing shaft 42 from its bearing 44,temporary support for the cylinder will have been provided, preferablyby advancing one or more cross members against its under surface, oragainst the buffer member 36, as is described above and shown in thedrawings, and holding them there while the shaft 42 is beingreciprocated and as long as it is unsupported at one end, whichordinarily is only long enough for a damaged blanket to be removed andanother blanket substituted. By the method and means disclosed hereinthis exchange requires only a matter of minutes instead of the manyhours required previously.

As illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 the endless blanket B is lead to thebacking cylinder over the lead rollers 54 mounted between brackets 12 onsupport 52, and is led away from cylinder 10 over the rollers 58,mounted between brackets b depending from a support 56. A length ofcloth C to be printed is led to the backing cylinder over rollers 60mounted between brackets 0 depending from support 52, and is led awayfrom the backing cylinder over rollers 62 mounted between brackets 0supported on support member 56. When blanket B is moved off or onto thebacking cylinder it must also be moved off its lead or guide rollers. Inorder to be able to slide the blanket laterally off the rollers by whichit is supported the roller spindles are detachable from their supportingbrackets at one end and supported at the other end so that the rollersmay be freed at one end and tilted down in the direction of the end ofthe cylinder shaft which is disconnected from its end support member. InFIGURE 1 a roller 58 is shown detached from its supporting bracket b atone end, and inclined downwardly, and the blanket B is shown partly offroller 58 as well as partly off the backing cylinder. Other rollers maybe manipuated in the same way. The rollers for the length of cloth C maybe mounted and manipulated in the same way but ordinarily there is nosimilar problem about removing a length of cloth since it is not endlessand it may be cut off at desired distances.

There has thus been provided a method and apparatus in which the abovementioned objects are realized in a thoroughly practical and simplemanner.

What I claim is:

1. A print roll assembly for supporting an endless member comprising, apair of spaced opposed support members, a tubular member, and a shaftdisposed axially within said tubular member, a first bearing provided byone of said support members and adapted to receive one end of saidshaft, a second bearing provided by the other of said support membersand adapted to receive one end of said tubular member, means forreciprocating the shaft axially of the tubular member to project saidone end of the shaft into said first bearing, and to withdraw the saidend of the shaft from said first bearing, and a cylinder mounted on saidtubular member.

2. The assembly claimed in claim 1 in which a transverse member isprovided adjacent the end of the sleeve which is supported in saidsecond bearing, a bearing for a screw is provided by the transversemember, and a screw extends through said bearing with its inner endanchored to said shaft, and with a handle on its outer end by which thescrew may be rotated to reciprocate the shaft and screw relative to thescrew bearing and thus move the projecting end of the shaft into and outof, said first bearing.

3. The assembly claimed in claim 1 including means for contacting theunder surface portion of the cylinder and means for exerting force topress the contacting means against the cylinder while the end of theshaft is withdrawn from said first bearing.

4. The assembly claimed in claim 1 including, an endless membersupported by the cylinder, means projectable toward the cylinder, andyoke means, thicker than the endless member, interposed between theprojectable means and the cylinder to provide temporary support for thecylinder while the said end of the shaft is withdrawn from said firstbearing.

5. The assembly claimed in claim 3 including a plurality of pairs ofarms projecting outwardly from said support members, cross membersslideable on said pairs of arms respectively for movement toward andaway from said cylinder, and means for moving the cross members alongsaid pairs of arms into contact with the cylinder surface.

6. The method of temporarily providing space between one end of a heavyprint roll backing cylinder and one of a pair of support members betweenwhich the backing cylinder is suspended, to permit an endless printersblanket to be passed through said space, for removing an endless blanketfrom around the heavy cylinder, and for placing an endless member aroundthe heavy cylinder, which comprises, employing a combination of a sleeveand a shaft reciprocal axially within the sleeve to support the heavycylinder between said support members, with one end of the sleevereceived in a bearing in one of the support members and one end of theshaft projected beyond the other end of the sleeve and received in abearing in the other of the support members, and exerting lifting forceagainst the under surface portion of the cylinder to coact with said oneend of the sleeve in supporting the cylinder while temporarilywithdrawing the projected end of the shaft into said sleeve.

7. The method claimed in claim 6 including the step of introducing meansthicker than the endless member against the under surface of thecylinder and exterting the lifting force against said introduced means.

8. The method claimed in claim 6 in which the lifting force is exertedthrough cross member means mounted on slides movable toward and awayfrom the cylinder on arms projecting from the support membersrespectively.

9. The method claimed in claim 6 in which the lifting force is exertedat a plurality of points on opposite sides of the transverse mid-sectionof the cylinder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,329,325 1/1920 Mascord 101-2l62,408,144 9/1946 Huebner 101- 219 XR 2,821,913 2/1958 Johnson 101-1782,893,310 7/1959 Johnson 101-182 3,173,361 3/1965 Verlik 101-178 XR3,205,815 9/1965 Liessem 101-219 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

C. D, CROWDER, Assistant Examiner.

